I, meanwhile, blasted into the bedroom like a judgmental hurricane...
Only to find that another, smaller storm had already hit the place.
Clothes scattered. Lingerie draped like cobwebs. Someone had lovingly shoved a dildo into a flower vase. And the adorable painting I gave her of three ducklings with toothy smiles? Now sporting hand-drawn genitals and bondage masks.
And right in the middle of this art installation of shame…
A scrawny, greasy-haired man was lying on the bed, handcuffed to the headboard, with a classic red ball gag stuffed in his mouth and crotchless briefs doing their best to maintain dignity.
- My brain will never recover from It has officially been corrupted.
- I exhaled through gritted teeth and stared down
She shrank further than any dominatrix should be allowed to.
The man — her -client- — was twitching his eyes in pure panic. He recognized me. I recognized him.
- You told me you broke up with him for good! Julia, seriously?! How many times are you gonna roll around with this human roach? The guy’s scum!
- It’s not what it looks ..
- Don’t. DARE. — I cut her off, mocking her tone. — Don’t give me that -not what it looks like- BS. He beat you. He treated you like garbage.
And now you’re hooking up with him again?
- It’s how I process it! — She shouted, pointing at the handcuffs like they were a feminist badge of honor.
But I wasn’t buying that crap for a second.
I rolled up my sleeves and stormed toward squirming, gagged Josef. Grabbed him by the collar like a cat mom lifting her misbehaving kitten.
- Look into my
He shook his head violently.
- Nope. Nuh-uh.
- I SAID LOOK AT ME, YOU FLESHY LEECH!
My voice cracked the air like the collective scream of a thousand prehistoric beasts, and he finally looked up.
That was all I needed.
I replayed the lesson I got from dear old Mom, summoned the mental blueprint, and began pulling the man into me. Literally.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
This wasn’t one of my usual mind-moves. This was full-blown banshee- grade dark sorcery. Something I shouldn’t even be able to do.
But it worked.
To Mia’s absolute horror, Josef flickered like a candle in a hurricane and vanished — ball gag, cuffs, and dignity included.
- Where did he go?! Ali, honey, what did you do?! — Mia’s voice wobbled like her emotions were about to short-circuit.
She probably had more questions, but all of them died on her lips when she saw my face.
I was glowing. Not metaphorically — like, literally emitting satisfaction. I felt full. Fed. Complete. I even hiccuped, daintily.
- Darling… your .. there’s some kind of black haze in them. I can’t see your pupils!
Mia stumbled back like she’d seen the devil slide into a beauty filter. And that snapped me out of it.
Instant regret. Cold, suffocating regret.
I realized my mom had set a trap for me — not with wires and lasers, but with power. I’d used her banshee trick once, and already I could feel the change. Another few uses, and I'd lose myself. No more -Alenari. - Just another hungry whisper in the dark.
- That was the first and last time! — I blurted, instantly regretting my own drama queen declaration.
- That’s what I used to say about Josef, — Mia shot back, now composed, cool, and just a little pissed. — But human willpower? Pathetic. We always come crawling back to our poisons. So don’t make promises you can’t keep.
She stepped closer, face tight with pain but not tears.
- And you had no right to interfere in my life. I love you — I do. But friendship means Not kicking down my bedroom door like Judge
Judy on meth.
I snapped back, bitter but ashamed:
- Friends are supposed to protect each other from parasites like that You know what he did to you.
I'm sorry… but I couldn’t just stand there and let you hurt yourself again.
And then I did the one thing I rarely let myself do. I looked down. Shrank. Suddenly I felt like a stray mutt, soaked and scolded.
- But I loved him… — whispered my faithful friend, and her eyes welled up with tears so fat they could’ve starred in some shit show. — I just hope he’s okay… that nothing bad happens to him.
- He’s — I lied. Instantly.
- No, Nothing will happen to him. I swear.
So yeah. I’m that kind of person. Judge, jury, and emotional executioner. No court would ever let me off the hook for this one.
In the sticky silence that followed, we left the room and returned to Mia’s command center. Luckily, the emotional thermostat dropped a few degrees when we saw Antwan fast asleep, face-down on the console like a cat on a keyboard.
I gently scooped him up — he was all limbs and sugar-snore — and, with Mia’s silent nod of approval, carried him to one of the bedrooms. Back on the balcony, she leaned against the railing and told me:
- You need to rest too. I know you don’t need much sleep, but you’re walking into an open-ended If you’re gonna write that ending yourself… you’ll need the energy.
She took a final drag from her vape, exhaled a lazy plume, and added:
- My stream’s about to start, so I’ll leave you to it. Just… do me a favor and don’t use the I might change my mind about letting you go and call in backup.
With a smirk and a flick of her robe, she vanished.
I took her advice — after fumigating the bed, of course. The whole thing still reeked of Josef’s existential regret and cheap body spray.
Fresh linens, clean conscience (kind of), and I collapsed into the pillows. Right before drifting off, one thought flashed through my head:
- I wonder what’s up with him now? I know how to send people into that pocket realm… and how to pull them out. But how to visit them? Or even talk to them? No Maybe he’s gambling in a spectral casino or sipping tequila on some psychic beach…-
My mind wandered into half-sleep, and eventually… darkness took me.
…
— Well, hello there, Wall.